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Gunmen kill female former lawmaker in Kabul

Sunday, 15 January 2023 4:00 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 15 January 2023 5:31 PM ]

Mursal Nabizada, 32, was among the few female parliamentarians who stayed in Kabul after the Taliban seized power in 2021.

Heavily-armed gunmen have shot dead a former lawmaker and one of her bodyguards in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul.

Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran said on Sunday that Mursal Nabizada, who had been a member of parliament in the former government, was killed in a night-time attack at her home. "Nabizada, along with one of her bodyguards, was shot dead at her house," Zadran said.

"The security forces have started a serious investigation into the incident." The police official said a brother of hers was also wounded.

Nabizada, 32, was among the few female parliamentarians who stayed in Kabul after the Taliban seized power in August 2021. She was from the eastern province of Nangarhar, and had been elected as a member of parliament from Kabul in 2018.

Abdullah Abdullah, who was a top official in Afghanistan’s former Western-backed government, said he was saddened by Nabizada’s death and hoped the perpetrators would be punished. He described her as a “representative and servant of the people.”

Mariam Solaimankhil, a former lawmaker said on Twitter that Nabizada was a “fearless champion for Afghanistan.”

"A true trailblazer - strong, outspoken woman who stood for what she believed in, even in the face of danger," she wrote. "Despite being offered the chance to leave Afghanistan, she chose to stay and fight for her people."

US forces occupied Afghanistan for about two decades under the pretext of fighting the Taliban. But when the forces chaotically left the country, the Taliban stormed Kabul, which had been weakened by prolonged occupation. With the Taliban in power, calls were intensifying for the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan. The Taliban has largely failed to bring security since taking over in August 2021 as deadly explosions targeting civilians remain a recurrent theme of daily life in the country.